The End of Forever
by Dreaming Egypt
Summary: AU When an newly made vampire searches for answers, he gets more than he bargained for. UndertakerOC, possible mentions of others later. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer**: I do not own any of the names you may or may not recognize. That about covers it._

_**Rating**: M for language and possible naughty bits later on. I haven't decided just HOW M I'm going to make it yet. lol_

_**Author's Note**: This story is brand new. Matter of fact, the idea only hit me a few hours ago. It's a little different from my others as in it's mostly AU. Let me know what you think of it. So far, I'm excited about it. If you guys like it, I'll keep writing._

* * *

The air around her seemed to swirl. A blue haze of cigarette smoke followed her every step but she didn't mind. It was hers. She'd given up caring a long, long time ago. Many things seemed to have gotten lost along the wayside over the years and her concern for the people around her was just not at the top of the list that night.

It had become a game. How many people could she goad into a fight in a single evening? Hmmm… So far, the record was six and a half. She snorted at the half and ran a hand through hair so red it sparkled like garnets spun into three feet of silk. You can't count it as a win if the man in front of you wets himself before you can through a punch, can you? She shrugged and lifted herself gracefully onto a stool at the bar.

She wasn't here to reminisce. She was here to find someone, someone like her. It'd been a very long time since she'd gotten a summons like this. They never ended well. Never. Once upon a time ago, she'd been given a dream and in that dream she'd seen a woman that was as different from her as black was to white, as good was to evil but she'd gone to find her. She'd crossed half a continent to finally come face to face with the apparition that had come into her rest to beg her help. She was alone, she'd said. She was being hunted, she'd said. Could she please help? Please?

Like a fool, she'd gone. What she found was not a woman hunted, but a hunter. It had taken her a very long time to get away again. The tiny, bird-like creature that had sought her out had been the proverbial wolf in sheep's clothing. Behind her placid façade and icy blue eyes was a sadist beyond anything she'd ever seen. She still bore the scars.

A cold chill shook her from her memories and she found herself absently rubbing the pale white slashes that marked up her arms. No, that wasn't why she was there. No sense in dredging up old memories.

The redhead took a deep breath and settled back against the bar, resting on her elbows, one boot hooked in the rung of her stool as she stared out at the crowd. What was she doing there? The place reeked of humanity. The stench of piss and vomit and sweat hung heavy over everything but the people carousing didn't seem to notice. It made her stomach lurch.

She was trying her best to stay amused. She'd been scanning the crowd for going on three hours and so far no one had come forward. He wasn't there. She knew it. If he had been, she'd have felt him for sure.

It worked that way it seemed. Whenever there was one like her around she could just…tell. It was like finding a candle in a dark room. Immediately, her eyes would be drawn to a certain person and she'd know. Whether or not they could feel her the way she could feel them she didn't know. She never stayed around long enough to find out. It wasn't safe.

"Val." Her head shot up. Standing in front of her was a massive man. He had to be pushing seven feet tall but his demeanor made him look smaller. His black hair was obviously dyed. Three inches of Irish red roots proved that. His goatee matched them. "You're Val right?" He asked, his voice barely more than a whisper. She nodded and took a long drag off of her cigarette. He seemed to relax slightly. "Could we…go somewhere?" He continued taking a stool next to her.

"No." She said after a long moment. She was watching him intently. Judging from the way he moved and the hard musculature of his body, he'd been an athlete at some point. He might still have been. Who knew? Val let her eyes drift up from his thick tattooed arms to his eyes. They were so green. She couldn't remember ever seeing eyes quite that shade before and they were studying her as much as she had been him. Suddenly, they gave her the chills.

"I was just hoping we could talk somewhere more privately. There are too many ears here." He was speaking louder but the hesitance was still there. Val made a sour face at him.

"These assholes wouldn't notice of you put on a dress and sang happy birthday to the bartender." She snapped. The big man flinched. Val sighed audibly and shook her head. Something was definitely not right about this person. His size alone should have been enough to put most people off but he seemed to try to fold in on himself every time someone walked past them. He seemed so afraid. "Look, I'm sorry I snapped at you. What's your name?"

"Mark." His eyes flicked to her for half a second and then he was watching the crowd around him again.

"Well Mark, what do you want?" She wanted to shake him when he flinched again.

"I…I…don't exactly know."

"Why did you contact me?" She tried again more slowly. He shook his head.

"I saw you the other night. You…bumped into me and…I knew you were like me." There was such honesty in his face. Val wanted to hit him…hard.

"Alright." She sighed. "Let's go." Val was on her feet before he could react.

"Where are we goin?" He asked following her through the front door and out into the night.

"Just come with me." She said, probably a bit more angrily than she should of given the big bastard's jumpy disposition. Much to her chagrin he missed a step before continuing after her. Val turned to snarl something else at him but thought better of it. Instead, she settled for leading on in silence.

"Is this where you…stay?" Mark asked ducking into the doorway of an abandoned building behind her.

"Jesus no." She blurted. "This is what you were looking for isn't it? Someplace away from people?" He nodded minutely and sat down on an overturned refrigerator.

"Thank you for coming."

"You're welcome. Now, what do you want?"

"I…thought maybe you could help me." Val shivered slightly, he must be relaxing. She could hear the softest twinge of an accent, something southern if she wasn't mistaken.

"What makes you think that?" He shrugged again. Val growled in her throat and stalked over to him.

"Don't touch me!" He yelled as she reached for his face and nearly fell backward off his refrigerator. "Don't EVER touch me!"

"Okay…alright, I won't." She raised her hands defensively and took a seat next to him careful not to brush against him. "Care to tell me why?" Val watched the corners of his eyes tighten as he ran a huge hand through his shaggy hair.

"Ever since I woke up like this…" He paused and swallowed hard. "…Whenever I touch people I see…things." Val's eyebrow shot up involuntarily.

"What kind of things Mark?" The big man turned abruptly toward her at the mention of his name.

"All kinds of things. Things about them I think. Thoughts, memories, feelings... It's crazy. I don't like it." Val laid back, propped up on her elbows and chuckled softly. "What are you laughing at?" He barked. Short of the earlier freak out, it was the most commanding tone that had come out of him.

"It all makes sense now." She was still laughing. "You're new."

"What do you mean I'm new?"

"That's why I couldn't feel you in that bar. You're so young…" She laughed harder as she ignored him.

"I'm forty-one fuckin years old girl." He growled. Apparently mister big and scary wasn't used to being on the low end of the totem pole.

"Okay…" She took a deep breath and composed herself. "How old do you think I am?"

"Hell you could probably be my daughter." He muttered. "Maybe not my daughter but close." Val burst out laughing.

"That's so very kind of you." She reached to pat his arm but pulled away. "Not quite." Mark cocked his head to one side. "I've been wandering longer than you've been alive." The big man started laughing.

"You're good."

"Excuse me?"

"You're twenty-five if you're a day." He was still chuckling to himself. The brief moment of happiness seemed to bring something to him. It was like the sparkle in his green eyes showed her a bit of what he was like before.

"More like three hundred and twenty-five, kid." She said dryly. Mark's laughter stopped as he choked.

"How…" He managed recovering nicely. His eyes were burning through her once more but she again choked back the urge to hit him.

"It's just the way it is." She said cryptically and raised an eyebrow. "Get used to it, if you don't get yourself killed you'll see a lot more birthdays." His green eyes seemed to cloud over at the thought. "What?" Mark shrugged again.

"I was planning my retirement." He muttered. Val said nothing. She was hoping he might continue. "I was gonna sell my condo and buy a ranch back home."

"So do it." She advised dryly. "You're gonna need somewhere to live aren't you?" He nodded but there didn't seem to be much behind it. It was a bare twitch of his neck muscles if it was anything.

"My…wife…" He pressed on. Val could see the faint mist slide across his eyes as he talked. "I…didn't mean it…"

"What about your wife?" She asked. Obviously this big bastard wasn't one to offer up information freely.

"Oh God…" The words were a low moan as his head dropped into his huge hands. Val closed her eyes, counting to ten, before she could trust herself to speak without screaming. Yes, the life he knew was over. Big deal. If he didn't get a handle on this hissy fit he was going to self-destruct.

"You killed her didn't you?" It was just a question, no emotion as she leaned toward him a bit. She wasn't touching him but part of her desperately wanted to. What would happen if she did? He'd probably panic and disappear faster than she could say abracadabra.

Val shook her head while the big man at her side cried into his lap over his lost wife. So what if he did run? It wasn't like she had any vested interest in him. In fact, it was probably the smartest course of action she could come up with. From her years of experience, spending any length of time with her own kind was bad…VERY bad.

"She…" He started and coughed. Good Gods, he was going to hyperventilate. Val stood up and positioned herself in front of him.

"Alright, put your head between your knees." She sighed. Val knew she sounded bored but it was the best she could muster. "Slow breaths. You're going to make yourself pass out if you don't get a grip."

"She was trying to help me!" His voice was gut wrenching in its agony.

"Of course she was…" Val cooed as best she could without touching him, or really wanting anything to do with his breakdown.

"She came out after the attack." He continued tears falling heedlessly into his lap. So he was attacked? That was good to know. It was a start anyway. "She…thought I was dead. I could see her, I could hear her but…" He trailed off into a wracking sob.

"But you couldn't move. It was sort of like being comatose." She finished for him. Mark's head snapped up.

"Yes…exactly." Val nodded as if it were obvious.

"As far as I can tell, that's the way it works." She informed him. "Then it's like you're outside yourself."

"I never…I wouldn't hurt her." He muttered and slid back, resting his head against the cinderblock wall. Val took a few steps away and turned back.

"But you did. You ripped her open and drank every drop of blood you could get into your mouth and then licked her organs clean. Right?" Mark flinched as if she'd plowed him in the face. It was harsh, oh well.

"It…couldn't have been me." He whispered shaking his head as if it could make the nightmare go away.

"Well, I've got news for you big guy, it was you." She said, ran a hand through her hair, and pulled a cigarette out of her pack.

"Can I get one of those?" The big man slumped on the refrigerator asked nearly inaudibly. Val walked over and held out the pack. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it." She muttered as he reached and brushed her finger. Mark gasped and jerked so violently his head crashed into the wall.

"Jesus!" He screamed and covered his eyes with the heels of his hands. "You…"

"Go ahead and say it. I killed my daughter." Val's voice was a low growl. "…And my husband."

"How could you?" Mark spat, his eyes narrowed as if he were seeing her for the first time.

"Don't you dare judge me you son-of-a-bitch!" Val snarled as she stalked over to him and jabbed a wicked looking knife toward his chest. "You know how! Once that first aching comes over you, you don't have a choice."

"I…saw you…" He whispered, his eyes misting over with something like wonder. Val sighed and tucked the blade back into the holster at her back. Good Gods, this was a nightmare.

"We've got to get a handle on that little trick of yours." She grumbled and turned away from him.

"So…you'll help me?" Her hackles rose at the unbridled hope in his voice. She didn't answer him right away.

How the hell did she keep getting herself into messes like this? It must be her good, compassionate, heart. Val rolled her eyes.

"I'll try." She grumbled.

"Oh God thank you." He breathed standing up and walking over to her but still out of arms reach.

"Come on." She said and started for the door. Mark didn't move. "I said, come on."

"Where are we going?"

"To my place until I can find something else to do with you." She said and waved him forward. If not reluctantly, he followed. "There…might be someone I can call."

"To help me?" He asked as she ducked out the door and made for the street. Val nodded and jammed her hand into her pocket for her cigarettes. She took one out and lit it then handed it to Mark before lighting another for herself.

"I don't know how to fix whatever it is that's short circuiting in that third eye of yours but I'll do what I can. Then you're on your own."

"Why do I keep seeing these things?" He asked after they'd crossed two streets and turned down another.

"I don't know. It appears that there are some perks to our condition." She explained but the big man was looking at her like she was crazy.

"I wouldn't call it a perk." He mumbled.

"You just don't know what you're doing with it. There's got to be a way to…wrangle it." She snapped. Mark hesitated a step then continued after her. Christ, he was jumpy! Val was going to have to either seriously alter her personality or he was going to get the crash course in desensitization. She was betting on the latter.

"Does everyone get this?" He ventured a bit more quietly. Val took a long drag off her cigarette and shook her head.

"I don't have it. As far as I can tell it depends. Everybody gets their own goody bag. There do, however seem to be some things that are universal."

"Well…what do you…er…do?"

"Why would I tell you that?" She chuckled. "I don't shit gold bricks that's for sure."

"You said back in that warehouse that couldn't feel me." Val stopped. Damn his memory.

"Okay, you've got me there. One of my little tricks is that I can find others like us." She started walking again.

"So you didn't have to hunt someone down like I did." He deduced.

"No, actually when I came back to myself after the first aching, my teacher was standing in the doorway of my house applauding." Val shivered at the memory. "I think you were lucky." Suddenly, she turned into a near deserted parking lot. "Go ahead and get in."

"This is your car?" Mark asked incredulously as she yanked open the driver's side door of a beautiful early model Trans Am. Val shot him a dry

look and got inside. "This _is_ your car right?"

"No, it just looked pretty. I thought I'd take it for a spin." She rolled her eyes again and shook the keys in front of him.

"Oh." He muttered and buckled his seat belt as she turned the key and brought the beast to life.

"Hold on to your butt." She grinned and stomped the gas, hurdling the car backward before throwing it in drive and tearing out onto the street.


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey, wake up. We're here." Val said and almost nudged the big man dozing in her passenger seat. He didn't budge. "Hey ugly! Get UP!" She yelled louder and thumped the seat near his head.

"What?" He jumped and whipped his head from side to side. When his green eyes rested on her he settled, if only slightly. "Are we here?"

"I just said that." She laughed and opened her door. Quickly, Mark followed suit, yawning as he stood. Val was already heading for a shabby looking metal door. The big man blinked twice to clear his sleep-addled head and followed.

Once inside, she began making her way up a long, narrow flight of stairs.

"How far up is it?" Mark asked as they climbed.

"Why do you ask?" She said over her shoulder to him. "Getting tired?"

"No…just curious. I figured I'd make conversation." He muttered. _Well hallelujah! _ She thought. _He does speak!_

"Well since you're up for talking, we're going all the way up."

Mark glanced up over the railing and sighed. It was a long, long way up.

"Is there any reason you like to torture yourself with stairs all the time?" He continued. Val shook her head. Yeah, that southern accent would be the death of her.

"Call me paranoid but it'll take the bad guys longer to get to me if I live on the top floor of an eight story walk up."

"Bad guys? There are bad guys?" Val couldn't be sure but it sounded like he nearly swallowed his tongue. She rounded a landing and turned to look at him.

"Yes…there are bad guys." Her voice was deadly serious. She watched Mark for a long moment to make sure the information sunk in. She figured it must have, he looked just a bit green. Nodding, she turned and continued up the stairs.

Mercifully, they came upon the final landing and her front door. Val dug out her keys and jammed one into a lock, twisting it, and kicked open the door. A high-pitched keening nearly made Mark's head split in two. Val whispered a curse and hurried over to a panel on the wall. After punching some numbers, the sound stopped.

"A security system?" He asked as she flipped a switch and light filled the room. Mark was slightly taken aback. The outside of the building resembled the abandoned warehouse she'd taken him first but inside? The studio apartment seemed to run the entire top floor of the building and everywhere he looked he saw money. The wood floors were polished and gleaming even if the walls were bare brick. To his left were two couches in black leather so fine it looked like butter in the spotlights. Across from them was an entertainment center that took up nearly three quarters of the wall and was jam packed with everything a person could want from the fifty inch plasma TV in its center, to the racks and racks of audio equipment flanking it.

The big man took a deep breath and let out a low whistle.

"It's not much but it's home." She grinned sarcastically.

"Where'd you get all this stuff?" He asked venturing in a bit further. Val immediately shut the door and locked it behind him.

"I bought it." She said dryly and tossed her keys on a black lacquered table that sat next to the door. "Get comfy, I'm going to make that phone call."

Mark glanced at her and nodded as she walked away and disappeared through one of two doors to the back.

"Jesus Christ…" He said to himself as he wandered her apartment and paused to look through a massive bookshelf. Her tastes were definitely eclectic. Mark let his hand run gingerly over the spines of "The Celestine Prophecy", "The Da Vinci Code", "Sidhartha", "The Great Gatsby", "A Clockwork Orange", and the complete works of both William Shakespeare and Edgar Allen Poe.

There were two entire shelves dedicated to Egyptian and Norse mythology and another shelf full of bibles. Each one was different. Mark let out a soft breath and pulled out a King James Version that looked so old it could've been an original.

"Good lord woman. Where did you get this?" He muttered as he began to carefully turn the yellowed vellum pages.

"Find something you like?" Mark jumped at the sultry whiskey voice behind him and stood, turning to face her.

"This is…" He muttered gesturing to the book in his hand.

"I know, I spent a pretty penny on that a lot of years ago." Val smiled and removed it from his hand. "I bought it because I'd never met anyone older than it." Mark watched her eyes as they took on a strange dreamy quality as she spoke.

"You hadn't?" He pressed softly.

"Not then." She glanced up and smirked before bending to return the book to its proper place. "I made some calls."

"And…" The one word evinced a desperation Val hadn't known was possible.

"He'll be here in an hour." She said and looked up to meet his eyes. There was such pain there, she nearly reached out to him. Mark's eyes opened wide and he stepped back, bumping into the bookshelf.

"Who will?"

"Sorry." Val grinned and turned on her heels. "I'm gonna go change. Sit tight." Before Mark could respond, she was gone again.

The redhead made her way back to her room as calmly as she could manage. For the first time in decades she found herself flustered by the man sitting, against her better judgment, in her living room.

"Come on Val." She chided herself as she stripped out of her black T-shirt and jeans. "Get a grip."

Sighing heavily, Val dropped her clothes in a pile and headed toward her massive armoire. As she passed her mirror she stopped and for a moment, stared. If there was one thing Val had never gotten over in all her years, it was looking at herself. In her own time, she hadn't been fancied a tremendous beauty so she'd worked to better herself in other ways. She'd watched the men fight and liked what she saw. It wasn't long before she was fighting along side them when raiders from neighboring steadings had tried to raze them.

It wasn't terribly uncommon for Norse women to fight but in Val's case, it was downright astounding. Her prowess on the field of battle had left such an impression on her people that the warriors among them had taken her in and given her a new name.

"Valdis." She muttered and ran her hands over the scars that marred her otherwise flawless white skin. The change had taken away every imperfection she'd ever thought she had except those. Over the years, Val had given the matter quite a lot of thought but no answers were ever forthcoming.

Shaking her head, she finished the trek to her armoire and pulled out a red tank top and a pair of loose, black, drawstring, pants. Shrugging into her shirt, she ran her hands through her hair. Once upon a time it wasn't so dark. As she finished dressing, Val couldn't help but remember a time when it wasn't so far off from the color of Mark's hair. The brightness had gone out of it after a while. Without daylight, it had slowly darkened to the deep, wine color it had now.

"Stop it." She growled at herself again and shook off the same dark thoughts she wrestled with every night. "Scott'll be here soon."

Walking as quietly as possible back to the front of her loft, she had to smile. Mark seemed to have indeed made himself comfortable. The big man was sprawled out on her couch and apparently contentedly flipping channels.

"Anything good on?" Val asked and chuckled as he nearly jumped out of his skin.

"I was just waiting for you." He muttered standing and swaying slightly on his feet. Val frowned.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I…just get tired." Mark opened his mouth to continue but before he could, Val watched the color drain from his face.

"Shit!" She spat and insinuated herself under his shoulder. As soon as she felt his bulk settle onto her she cursed again and considered dropping him. He'd been more than clear about being touched. He wasn't, however, having any kind of spaz attack so Val edged him around and let him fall limply back onto the couch. "Sorry." She said to his inert form and made her way over to the window.

_No wonder_…As Val laughed as she watched the first inklings of dawn eke over the buildings to the east. Mark was so young. Why hadn't she thought of it?

As she watched the coming dawn she thought back to her first few years after her change. She remembered the slow draining of consciousness and the feeling of helplessness that came with it. Feeding fairly regularly could stave it off but not much, not enough to worry about. It gave you another hour at most. Mark would be out for most of the day.

"Damn it." She grumped and let her curtain fall back into place. "What the hell am I going to tell Scott now?"

As if on cue, a knock sounded at the door. Before Val could open it, it creaked open and the man she'd been waiting for slipped in.

He was an imposing sight. He wasn't a terribly tall man but he made up for it in grand style. He was built like a pit bull with his solid arms and chest. It was as if Scott had gone out of his way to make himself intimidating. His hair fell down his back in ropelike blonde dreadlocks and he'd covered quite of bit of himself in tattoos but none of those things furthered his intention more than his eyes. His dark eyes held an inherent intensity that made it very hard to look at them for long. It was as if all the pain he was fond of wearing on his sleeve was amplified in their hooded depths.

Val however, had known him long enough to sidestep his intimidation factor.

"I really wish you wouldn't do that." Val grumbled and crossed her arms over her chest. "I lock that for a reason you know."

Scott shrugged and peeled off his tattered leather jacket, tossing it on the floor.

"I don't like to wait." He said smoothly and locked eyes with her. It made Val shiver slightly. Scott didn't ever look at you; he was always looking through you. It was his gift. He had once been a lot like Mark but somehow, he'd managed to overcome it all by himself. "So where is he?"

"Passed out." Scott nodded and brushed passed her to the couch. Without a word, he knelt down and placed a hand on the big man's forehead. Before Val could warn him, Mark jerked violently.

"Jesus Christ." Scott breathed. "No wonder this guy's all fucked up."

"What do you mean?" Val asked, her voice taking on the same note of apprehension as Scott's. Slowly she went over and crouched down beside her friend, glancing at Mark's massive form still laid out on her couch. Whatever Scott had done, it hadn't been enough to jolt him out of his sleep.

"He knows more about what's going on than he's telling you. I can almost guarantee that. People with no psychic ability don't throw up walls like that with no knowledge of what they're doing." Val went cold at his words.

"God damn it." She whispered, mentally kicking herself…again. How did she figure this one would be any different? She'd managed to stay away from most of her own kind for so long and here she was, letting another one into her life. What happened to following her own rules?

"Don't get your thong in a twist." Scott said waving away her obvious discomfort and smoothing down his unwieldy hair. "His third eye is blown wide open. All I'm saying is he's tried to stop it himself. He knows a bit more than he knows he does."

"What the hell does that mean Scott?" Val grumbled and settled herself into a sitting position on the floor against the couch, lighting a cigarette. The man beside her shrugged and sat down beside her.

"It means what it means. What do you want me to say?" He said cryptically and stole the smoke from Val's lips. The redhead shot him a withering glare and lit another for herself.

"Whatever. I don't suppose there's anything I can do about it." Scott shook his head and let a stream of blue smoke escape his lungs.

"Look…Can I crash?" He said after a long silence.

"Daylight getting to you?" Val smirked and stubbed out her cigarette in a nearby ashtray. As she stood up she took a good look at her friend. Scott was a bit gray, his brooding eyes a little more haunted than usual. It was sometimes hard for Val to remember he was still very young in his own right. Scott was easily as mysterious and tight-lipped as any of the very old ones she'd ever met. Every so often though, he did something that reminded her that he wasn't quite fifty years old himself.

"You know I can't stay awake like you can." He muttered unhappily as if the mere admission of exhaustion was indicative of some inherent weakness.

"I'd offer you my couch but…" She chuckled waving her hand idly toward Mark's sleeping bulk.

"I'll take the bed." He said nonchalantly and headed back toward her room.

"I don't remember agreeing to that." Val called over her shoulder. Scott's steps didn't even slow down.

"I'll let you have the left side." He chuckled. Val rolled her eyes and, after spreading a black afghan over Mark, wandered after him. It wasn't the first time they'd shared space. Val had come across Scott less than a decade after his change and, much like the situation she found herself in now, had taken him in.

Just thinking about Scott eased the knot in her stomach. He hadn't turned out so bad. In fact, he was probably the closest thing she had to a real friend.

"Come on…" She heard him whine from her room. "Sleep!"

_Hold your horses_, she thought and with a final glance at Mark, disappeared into her room.


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: Sorry it's taken me so long to get back to this story. I've had so many others trapped in my brain that this one got lost by the wayside for entirely too long. If there's anyone out still paying attention to it, enjoy! Reveiws are, as always, welcome. _

* * *

Val awoke with a prickling along her spine. Someone was there, someone that shouldn't be there and she was sorely unprepared. Internally she cursed herself and lay perfectly still without opening her eyes. She did her best to keep her breathing steady and normal until she could figure a way out of her compromising situation. 

"Hi." A very tentative voice managed from across the room and Val let out a sigh of relief. "Did I wake ya?"

"What are you doing in my bedroom?" Val asked as evenly as she could manage. He didn't speak but she could hear his heart rate pick up. "Would you mind leaving?"

"Sorry." He muttered and stood.

Rolling onto her back, Val hiked the sheets up under her arms and glared at him. Where did he get off watching her sleep? It was creepy and the look in his eyes made her wonder if being alone with him was perhaps a worse idea than she thought. "GO!" She barked anyway.

Mark held up his hands in supplication but his eyes never broke from hers. Jesus, he was intense. When he actually turned on his brain and looked at her with those green, green eyes Val felt as if all her shields and alter egos were torn away. It was like he could see right through her.

"Scott…left already." He said and looked away. Immediately Val felt as if she could breathe again.

"Scott…How do you know about…"

"He touched me." Mark answered and shrugged then turned for the door. He looked so forlorn, his huge body collapsing in on itself in his insecurity. Val almost wanted to reach out, take his hand, and tell him it was all alright but she knew better. Emotional involvement was the devil…end of story.

"And because he touched you…"

"I know everything about him. He's not like me. You think he is but he's not." Mark said but he had a faraway look in his eyes. Before Val could say a word, the big man teetered and caught himself on the doorframe.

Swearing under her breath, Val hopped off the bed pulling the sheet with her and went to him. "Open your eyes…" She barked and leaned close for a look. "Roll them up." He did as he was told and Val swore again. "Damn it, when was the last time you fed?"

Mark shrugged and leaned away when Val made to lift his lip and have a look at his gums. "Few days…"

"A few days?!" She blurted back. "You…can't just not feed Mark! You're too young! You're too vulnerable! Jesus!" Val railed and fought the urge to punch something. "Sit down, I'm gonna go get dressed."

"Wait…I…what are you…" Mark stammered but Val shoved a hand up in his face.

"No, go sit down. If you don't, you're gonna drop and you don't want me to touch you so I'll have to leave you on my floor. Go…sit…down." The big man's eyes went wide and without a word, he staggered slowly back to her couch.

Shaking her head, Val slammed the bedroom door and began tearing through her drawers for something to wear. Of all the asinine things to do to yourself! So young…so fucking stupid! If the big bastard in her living room didn't keep up his strength he was going to go feral and at his size, Val wasn't terribly sure she could stop him. Sure, she was older, she had control of her gifts, she'd had years of training but Mark was just…massive. His inherent strength radiated off of him even as he did his best to make himself invisible. Val could only imagine what sort of man he was before he'd died.

Once she'd settled her clothing, Val stalked into the living room. "C'mon. Let's go." She ordered him, snapping her fingers and making a beeline for the door.

"Where're we goin?" He asked quietly as he followed the redhead down the stairs. Val didn't answer right away; she was too busy cursing him in every language she knew. "Val…"

"What?" She snapped and physically bit down on her tongue when she heard his footsteps falter. "What do you want Mark?"

"I…asked where we were goin."

"Dinner time kid. Time to get used to this life or die trying." She said glancing over her shoulder.

"I…can't do that." Val stopped dead in front of him spinning so he could see the rage in her eyes.

"You have done it so I don't want to fucking hear it. You asked me for help, I'm helping you. Don't piss me off tonight." She snarled and pushed through the door leading outside.

For quite a while they walked in silence. Val stopped at the end of a dilapidated fence and tilted her face up into the wind. Immediately the entire city was there for her exploration. She could smell the few straggling homeless in an alley and if she concentrated harder there was the stale sweat and beer of the club down a few blocks. She grimaced. There was nothing suitable anywhere nearby yet.

"What are you doing?" Mark's tentative voice jerked her out of her planning.

"Hunting, asshole. You should try it sometime." She grumbled and turned her head slightly. Suddenly, she found a scent she liked. Grinning, she turned to Mark and motioned him after her.

"What…is that…?" Mark gasped as he found the trail as well.

"Dinner." She chuckled, her voice lower than normal as the beginnings of the bloodlust began to stir in her gut. Mark was feeling it too. She could tell by his tone. As long as the night kept on the way it was headed, getting him back up to par would be a cakewalk. If only Val was that lucky… "Follow me and do exactly what I tell you to. You'll feel so much better."

"I don't want to kill anyone…" He said in a heavy sigh.

"Then don't kill them and leave them to run to the tabloids." Val responded flatly as she hurried her pace. The trail was dying. The prey was heading away. She had to get close before they were lost to them.

"I don't care if they do. At least they'll be alive." He reasoned his voice shaking slightly but followed her. Val swallowed hard and waved an irritated hand at him. She had a mind to snap something belligerent but his squeamishness didn't matter anymore. She was focused. She was zeroing in.

"Come on…" She said under her breath and took off at a run. For a long moment, Mark stood watching her go. God she was fast! His hunger-addled brain could barely make her out as she sped on but shaking the haze from his head, he took off after her.

When he caught up, Val was perched on a low rooftop and staring into an alley so dark Mark couldn't make out the other end. "What do you see?" He panted and leaned against the wall to catch his breath. Val didn't move. She didn't speak. Mark had to look up again to make sure she was still there she was so motionless, her dark eyes glued in exactly the same place they had been. "Val?" He asked again. "What are you…"

_Shut up…_ Her voice sounded in his head and sent him reeling and pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Jesus…" The big man muttered and glared up at her incredulously.

_I said…shut up Mark._ She said again but this time Mark was watching. Val never moved. _Stop talking or they'll hear you._ Frowning, he leaned around the corner squinting into the blackness. As far as he could tell, there was nothing there. Shifting, he turned back to her and opened his mouth to speak.

_Don't do it…_ She cautioned. Mark sighed and directed his thoughts.

_What the fuck are you lookin' at? _ Val had to stifle her laughter at the exasperation that managed to work his way into even his thoughts.

_Two…a man and a woman…coming this way. Hold it together for three minutes could you?_ Mark groaned aloud and Val shifted enough to shoot him a scathing glance.

_Sorry…_ He thought before he could stop himself and hopped up, nearly silently beside her. Val's lip curled at the sound of his big boots scraping the rotting shingles but she didn't make a sound.

_Here's the plan._ Mark heard in his head as he continued to squint toward the darkness. _I'll go after the guy. I'm stronger than you are and then you go after the woman before she starts screaming…_

_I can't do that!_ He barked back before she could finish. _I can't just…_

_Oh you can kill her and you will._ Val's voice growled through his mind. She absolutely did not have time for a conflict of conscience out of the big man. They'd gotten close enough that she could hear their slow, lazing footsteps and their playful voices as they walked, probably arm in arm, toward their untimely death. Any second, they were going to step into view and as soon as they did, it would be time to jump.

_Val, I…can't touch them…_ Mark whispered the thought as if he was ashamed. Cursing inwardly, the redhead shifted her eyes sideways to take in his expression. For all the emotion riding on those few words, his face could have been made of stone. His green eyes were fixed on the alleyway beneath them and his muscles were tense with potential energy.

Suddenly, it made sense. He _was _going to do as she said and he was going to hate himself with an undying passion afterward. His body, his instincts were taking over. The true feral nature of his new self was shredding the moral fabric that he held himself to and closing her eyes, Val searched a bit inside his mind to see just how dangerous this small but necessary act was going to be to him.

_Don't…_ He went on without speaking and with a near painful jolt, she was pushed out of his head.

_Wow…I'm impressed._ She returned and grinned. Mark's countenance didn't so much as budge. Staring at him, Val watched the darkness of his pupils expand to overcome the green around them. He was focused on the couple just now close enough for their scent to become overpowering.

_Fuck you Val._ His voice along her silent mental pathways was grim and defeated but still determined. _I can't touch them. Everyone I touch becomes part of me._

_You have got to feed. Do you know what will happen if you don't?_ She asked him as her eyes drifted back to the alley. When he didn't respond, she pushed on. _Remember that feeling when you woke up this way? Remember the gnawing, all-encompassing need to kill and eat? Losing yourself to the needs of your body is worse than the lowest you think you're capable of going. You will go feral and I will have to put…you…down._ As she punctuated the thought, he turned to her…and there was genuine fear on his face. _You'll attack me because I'm closest to you and you'll do to me what you keep trying to forget about doing to your wife. I promise you, I will win and then none of this will mean anything._

Mark stared into her dark eyes as her voice thundered into his mind. She was deadly serious. He could tell and he wasn't sure which he was more afraid of, her promise or what he knew he was going to do when he saw the couple with his own eyes. _I don't…_

_No, you don't want to die. I can see that much. If you did, you'd have walked out into the sun already instead of searching me out to help you._

Mark's eyes were green fire boring into her as her voice echoed through his skull. _No, I don't want to die. _ He finally admitted and Val could feel the seething anger in the thought.

_Then you will do this. _ With a satisfied smile, the redhead eased forward on the crumbling rooftop and peered further into the darkness of the alley. _Here they come…follow my lead._ And then she was gone into the shadows.

For a long moment, Mark stared down into the darkness. He couldn't see Val or where she'd landed but the harder he focused, the more he heard the footsteps of her proposed target. Closing his eyes, he listened to their quite banter. They were laughing, talking about what they'd do once the got back home.

Internally, it made Mark shiver. Whether or not, he got involved in what was about to happen, neither of them would make it to where they were going. He wanted to scream but he knew if he did, Val would probably take him out and as much as he hated to admit it, she was right. He didn't want to die. Not again. There had to be a way to make whatever life he had work.

A scraping sound tore him from his thoughts. Leaning further out, Mark finally caught a glimpse of what she'd been going on about. They were two kids. KIDS! Neither one of them was old enough to get into a bar and the thought of what Val was about to do to them made his stomach lurch.

_I can't do this…_ He sent her.

_Then I'll do it…_ Her voice snarled back in his head then she cut it off. The closing of whatever mental pathway she'd created to him was like a hot needle in the eye.

"Damn it…" He cursed and brought the heel of one hand up to it. As soon as the words left his mouth he regretted it. The footsteps stopped. Cautioning another look over the edge, the young couple were glancing about nervously and whispering together.

_Nicely done asshole. Why don't you just shout "HEY! There's a vampire waiting for you!"… _Val's voice broke through again.

Shrinking back on himself a bit, Mark grimaced frowning and pushed his fading black hair out of his face. _Sorry._

Val didn't answer him and from his vantage point, it seemed like a good thing. Maybe she was zeroing in again. The kids seemed to have gotten over their minor scare and were continuing toward the mouth of the alley.

And what the hell were they doing wandering allies in the dark anyway? Didn't their parents ever teach them anything? All sorts of nasty things happen in dark allies! Maybe murder by vampire wasn't the most obvious choice but watching a small redheaded shadow creep out from behind a dumpster on the far side, Mark thought that maybe it should have at least have been taken into consideration.

Then again, until just a couple weeks ago, he wouldn't have thought it possible either.

_Val…Don't…_

_Why not? Afraid you might like it? _ Her voice was teasing in his mind and it made him want to scream. Little did she know how right she was.

_Why don't you go fuck yourself woman…_ Mark snarled, his voice like venom as it raced through Val's mind. For a moment, she actually paused. Had it been anything else at any other time, she'd have been angry but the redhead knew what was happening on that rooftop. Slowly but surely the need was outweighing the reason and no matter how much he hated himself after what he was about to do, it was necessary. All of their kind had to do the same thing to survive and hold onto what little humanity they had left. The alternative was worse than she could ever contemplate.

_Did you kiss your mother with that mouth?_ Val shot back and stifled a laugh at the hesitation through their mental connection before shutting it down again. His indecision was distracting and the kids were nearly on top of here where she hid in the shadows. She couldn't afford any more interruptions.

"Jesus don't do it…" Mark breathed more to himself than actually to Val below in the darkness. The moment the words left his mouth he was unsure whom they were meant for. It felt as if there was an animal inside his chest tearing at his ribcage for release. It _wanted _those kids and the harder he fought it, the harder it fought back. His muscles shook with the strain of staying still.

Chancing a look down the alley, he saw the couple stop to steal a kiss in the shadows. This was it. He was either going to fight it off or hate himself for whatever was left of his existence.

_Now…_ A voice strangely like his own whispered to him and it was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. The last silk fine thread of self-control snapped and in one smooth motion, he stood and dropped down into the darkness behind the two kids.

In a haze of red, he saw them stop and turn toward him. The girl's eyes were wide with fright and as much as he tried to deny it, it excited him. Her boyfriend stepped protectively in front of her but he was of no consequence. He was an obstacle that kept him from the one thing he truly needed…her life.

"Hey man, what the hell do you think you're doing?" The kid said and snapped out a cheap, gas station pocketknife. It was a dim flash of silver on the edge of Mark's focus as he felt himself striding forward to shove the kid out of the way.

Once he realized his pathetic show of bravado hadn't worked, his face too showed the panic his girlfriend's was painted with. The creature inside Mark roared in triumph as he tried to stop it, tried to squelch it back down like he had so many times in the last two days but this time it wouldn't be denied.

Mark saw his hand reach out and shove the kid out of the way. He wanted the girl, Val had told him to go for the girl and the thing inside him had every intention of obeying.

He flinched a bit as he watched the boy hit the brick wall and slump to the dirty ground. The inevitable flood of knowledge hit him like a fist but he did his best to shake it off. He couldn't be swayed, the beast raging in him wouldn't allow it as he took those final steps and wrenched the little blonde girl off her feet by her pretty pink sweater.

Again the flood of information hit him but he blocked it, the part of him that was all animal saw to it that it wouldn't bother him…yet. All he was focused on was the girl's rapid breathing and that tiny pulse point in her neck that beat up and down and up again with the stilted rhythm of her panicked heart.

Dimly he was aware that she was beating at him with her tiny fists, scratching with her French manicured nails but it was lost in the haze of bloodlust. A hand tangled in her hair saw to it that she was where he needed her. Mark had crushed her to the front of him and yanked her head to one side. His eyes were pinpricks of focus on that rapidly thrumming pulse.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, he railed against himself, screamed and begged to stop it but it was too late. That primal, preternatural force inside him was in control and bending his head toward it's objective.

With great effort, his mouth opened and his lips touched the smooth, baby-soft skin of the side of her neck. Mark swooned. It was better than any drug he'd ever taken, it was better than the best sex he'd ever had and it was right there, waiting in the core of the little girl screaming for help in his arms. It was all too much.

His teeth clamped down with more force than he'd meant and a large chunk of her flesh came loose in his mouth. Mark's first instinct was to chew it and swallow but that would waste too much time and the precious fluid he'd been searching for was washing over his face in a flood. That was what he was there for not the insignificant bit of wrapping it came in. Turning his head briefly to one side, he spat it out and returned, latching onto the gaping hole he'd made, he let it flow over his tongue, hot and intoxicating as he swallowed in deep gasping draughts.

Finally he felt her tired heart stutter. There was nothing left for it to pump, he'd seen to that. He couldn't leave her to suffer, not with what he'd done to her and sucked harder on the wound to make it as quick as possible but something hit him in the back and staggered him.

Mark dropped the girl, turning in his full predatory glory to the intrusion and saw the girl's boyfriend standing with a rotting two by four clutched in his shaking hands. Somewhere in his mind, Mark commended the kid for having the balls to try to protect his woman but the thought was discarded as he moved faster even than he thought he was capable of and snatched him off his feet to jerk his head aside and sink his fangs into his throat as well.

He must have nicked the kid's windpipe. Every deep swallow he got was inundated with bubbles and the feel of them tickling over his tongue made him shudder. The initial need had abated and Mark found himself being more discerning. He wouldn't get anything of substance out of the kid and besides he could taste the ecstasy like a sour milk in his blood. Had the girl tasted of it too? Mark couldn't remember. It didn't matter anyway. He'd taken more than he should have and she was dead.

His hand began to tremble as he pulled away from the boy. The tremble worked it's way up his arm and into his chest before it shot through the rest of him like a bullet through glass and sent him to his knees.

Val stood watching where she'd been poised to strike with her mouth hanging open in shock. What she'd just witnessed was enough to stop her in her tracks and in all her years, it took a lot to surprise her. Never had she thought Mark had had it in him but what she had just witnessed told her she was very…very wrong.

Edging around the big man's fallen form, she lifted the boy back to his feet and shoving her thumb into the wound in his trachea to plug the leaking air, bit down to take what she could from him as Mark gasped writhing on the ground. It was obvious he needed help but she couldn't leave the kid to wheeze and potentially scream. She'd had a run in or two with law enforcement over the years and it was something she'd rather not repeat.

Immediately the rapture of the kill flooded through her. Sure he was doped up but she'd had worse. The drugs in a human's system had little to no effect on her so she paid it no mind as she drained what was left of his life from him and dropped him to the ground beside his girlfriend.

As the haze of bloodlust dissipated, Mark's frantic voice broke through to her. Licking her thumb clean she kicked a dead leg out of the way and knelt beside him.

This was not good. Mark was laying prone on the filthy asphalt of the alley, his eyes dilated and fixed on nothing as he muttered craziness to no one.

"Mark…" She tried quietly but her voice didn't seem to break through whatever he was seeing. "Mark…c'mon. Snap out of it."

The big man convulsed so hard Val was sure he'd bite his tongue off and jerked up to his knees. "Jesus fucking Christ!" He screamed and brought his hands up to tear at his hair. Instinctively, Val reached up and grabbed his wrists, pulling his hands away before he did any damage. It was then that Mark's violently green eyes snapped to her. A primitive snarl working it's way across his face, he shoved her and sent her flying over the dumpster into a puddle of filth ankle deep.

Good god damn the man was strong!

Getting groggily back to her feet, Val shook her head and worked her way back out into the alley. Mark was on his feet now but the tremors that had taken him to his knees seemed to be stronger than before. His big hands were contorted into claws in front of his chest. She could do nothing but watch as his heavy muscles contracted and released. It was as if his body was fighting him with everything he had.

"Mark! Listen to me!" She yelled over his frantic whispers. The acid green eyes swung toward her again. "You did what you had to do to survive, that's all!"

"You did this!" He hissed and launched himself at her. Val had less than a heartbeat to brace herself before his massive form crashed into her, forcing her against the slime coated brick wall. "A fucking cheerleader." He snarled into her face. Val's heart skipped at the sheer hatred in his voice as his blood scented breath beat in ragged puffs on her cheeks. "She was a fucking honor student and her boyfriend talked her into stealing her sister's ID so they could get into some god damned club." He stopped for a minute and squeezed his eyes shut as if to fight off the visions. "They were going back to his place…" Mark went on in a strained voice. "She was a virgin and he was gonna take it from her…tonight…"

"I didn't do this…" Val whispered as he glared into her, his hand wrapped just tight enough around her throat to restrict her breath. "You have to feed to live."

His face contorted into the monster he thought he was as his chest heaved against her. "Fuck you Valdis…" He growled and disappeared.

Val lurched forward and fell onto her hands and knees gasping more out of shock than the actual need for breath. "What the hell…" She managed as she pulled herself to her feet. "What in the fucking hell…"

Never had she seen anyone just…go poof. "How did you do that?" She said a bit louder as her dark eyes scanned the alley and surrounding rooftops. "Where'd you go?"

"He's not here."

Val whipped around to meet the new voice head on but relaxed slightly at the familiar silhouette at the mouth of the alley. "Scott…" She said dryly and did her best to compose herself. "Been here long?"

With is usual unhurried stride he made his way toward her, his hands shoved in his pockets as if he was just out for a stroll. "Long enough to see Mr. I-don't-want-to-be-a-vampire freak out and nearly tear you apart."

"Thanks for your help." She went on dryly, her hand sweeping over her throat to make sure everything was where it was before Mark had lost his mind. "As you saw I had it all under control."

Chuckling, Scott shrugged. "I was hoping I could catch you before you took your duckling out to learn to swim."

"Spare me the cryptic bullshit okay?" Val sighed and wiped her damp hair off her face. "Why are you here?"

With his ever-casual demeanor, Scott shrugged and flipped a hunk of his dreadlocks over his shoulder. "There's something to him. I wanted to tell you before all this happened."

Val stared at him for a long moment with her arms folded and a bemused eyebrow threatening to disappear into her hairline. "Something to him? What sort of something?"

Scott shrugged again and reached into a pocket in his leather jacket to find his pack of cigarettes. "I don't know what yet. I need more time with him."

Shaking her head, Val glanced up at the rooftops again. "I told you, he's not here."

"And how the hell do you know that?"

"When he went poof, he sort of went off my radar. If he were here, I'd feel him." Val nodded slowly and let out a deep sigh. She'd been around Scott long enough to trust his instincts. If he said Mark was gone, Mark was gone.

"Any idea where he went?" Scott shook his head.

"Wanna hit the bar?" He offered. "It's still early yet."

"No…I've got to see if I can find him." She sighed and ran her hand through her hair, grimacing as it caught the tangles. "Let me know if you run into him."

With a lopsided smile, Scott nodded. "If he's really gone, don't beat yourself up."

"I don't beat myself up." The redhead snorted indignantly. Scott laughed.

"Yeah…alright then. I'll catch up with you later." He said and turned heading for the end of the alley.

Val stood there watching him until he turned and disappeared from her line of sight before she collapsed against the wall again. "Where did you go Mark?" She whispered into the night before she stood to clean up his mess. There could be no evidence. Technology had advanced too far to leave bloodless corpses with gaping bite wounds just lying around. Eventually some brilliant tech would figure out the stories were true.

Once the alley was returned to its pre-destruction grime, Val closed her eyes and tried the mental connection she'd established with Mark. _Are you alive? _ She sent and waited. There was no answer. It was like listening to a radio between stations, nothing but empty static.

"So much for that…" She muttered and hopped up on top of the dumpster to climb back up to the roof. Home first…and then to…wherever.


	4. Chapter 4

**_A/N: _ **_Once again...I have gone above and beyond the call of tardiness. Life's been...interesting in it's ability to change therefore, it's been quite some time since I could force my brain to write like I want it to. ANYWAY...Here's the latest installment. Enjoy...R/R please. It makes me smile. _

* * *

The sky was just beginning to go from black to dark blue as Val trudged up flight after flight of stairs leading to her loft. She hadn't gone straight home as she'd originally planned. Why would he go there anyway? It was her place. He'd been there once. Instead, Val made her usual rounds, hopping from bar to bar, and hoping for some sign of Mark. None were forthcoming and somehow she wasn't that surprised. 

Sighing heavily, she unlocked her door and stepped inside, leaning against it as it closed behind her. Where the hell had he gone? Val had wracked her brain for an answer and nothing had come of it. Why did she even care? That was another thing she couldn't get around. Who was he anyway? Nobody, just some random guy who found himself in the same unfortunate predicament as herself. Big deal. It was total insanity.

Grumbling, she pushed off and ran her fingers through her hair. Wandering a bit idly, she found herself staring at the coming dawn, as it's first feeble rays cut through a gap in her heavy curtains. Slowly but surely, it was coming and wherever Mark was, Val had a feeling he was watching it too.

The thought made her stomach clench. He did not need to die. There had to be a way around his mojo. Scott had learned to live with it and it was very similar. Mark had told her it wasn't the same but as close as it appeared to be, it had to be workable.

"Why am I even thinking about this?" She grumbled to herself and turned pointedly away from the sky. Let him go. If he survived the night he could find someone else to freak out on.

The thought didn't make her feel any better but she pretended as she stalked into her bedroom and flung herself on the bed. She wasn't tired. At Val's age, she wouldn't be tired until the sun was fully above the horizon but she'd had as much of the night as she could stomach.

With a deep breath, she closed her eyes and mustered the energy to force herself to unconsciousness.

She was in that place between sleep and awake when she heard a screeching that jarred her senses. Grumbling silently she mentally clawed her way to wakefulness. The closer she got, the more familiar the screeching got.

Flopping an arm over her face she groaned and fished into her pocket for the small black phone she carried and flipped it open. "This better be good."

"Oh I guarantee you it is." Scott's bemused laughter came from the other end. "I think I found your puppy."

Val lurched forward. "Where?" She gasped.

"What? No reward?" He laughed again as Val got to her feet.

"How about this? You tell me where he is and I won't kill you."

"Fair enough…" He said after a long silence. "He's on your roof." Val was positively stunned. "Now in the interest of not killing me, can I come up and crash? It's getting mighty bright out here."

"Yeah…door's open…" She muttered and tossed the phone on the couch as she sprinted for the stairs. It was already entirely too late for him. He might just be unconscious.

Bursting out onto the roof, Val staggered back a step. The sun didn't affect her like it did the younger ones but it was still murder on her eyes. Squinting she ducked into the shadow of an air conditioner and looked around.

"Mark?" She called and scanned the area again. Predictably, there was no answer. Sighing, she stood up and blocked her eyes with her hand. At the other side of the roof, she spied a dark mass huddled back against a vent in a shadow. "Mark…get up, let's get downstairs."

_Go back inside…_ Came his quiet reply in her head. Closing her eyes, Val counted to ten and headed toward him.

"Come on. Get up. You don't want to die tonight." She went on.

Mark shuffled back further into the corner as she neared him. "Back off!" He snarled.

Val didn't move back but she did stop where she was. She was close enough to see how hard he was trying to stay conscious. His green eyes were cloudy and drooping. She doubted he could even see her. "Don't be stupid. Follow my voice and get into the stairwell!" She growled.

"Just leave me alone Val." He panted and brought his arm up in front of his eyes. Watching him made her cringe inwardly. She knew exactly what he was going through. He was so fragile. The tiny modicum of sunlight on his skin was like having his face peeled off with a cheese grater.

"Bullshit. Get up. If you wanted to die you wouldn't have ended up on my roof!" She barked and took to big steps toward him. Mark didn't even flinch. She was right. The sun was baking his eyes right out of his skull. "I'm going to count to three and then I'm going to grab your arm and drag you."

Mark's only response was a guttural groan as he curled himself even further into the corner. "Get up…now." Val tried again. The big man shook his head wildly.

"I can't do this!" He gasped and shifted a bit, lifting himself up on his arm only to lose his balance and fall into his little bit of cover.

"Yes you can…" She said more quietly. "You have…"

"And I see it. Every time I close my eyes I see it. I see their lives." He breathed in ragged pants. "That girl was…" Breaking off he shook his head wildly again.

"Let it go." Val whispered and crouched down beside him. Mark's head never stopped shaking. Mustering her courage, she took a deep breath and focused her will to her voice. "Let it go Mark. You don't want to die tonight."

"I can't…" His voice was a near indistinguishable rasp.

"Yes you can." She reiterated and used more of herself to force her thoughts through his traumatized brain. He was so lost in what he'd seen, she wasn't sure if there was anything she could do other than grab him and haul him down bodily and she wasn't sure he'd survive that either.

Luckily, the big man jerked and swung his eyes on her. They still weren't focused but she'd gotten to him. "C'mon. Let's get off the roof…" She couldn't be sure, but it looked to Val as if he nodded before he uncurled himself and crawled shakily to her.

"I…can't…" He wept, reddish liquid coursing down his cheeks and reached for her. Val stumbled back. No matter what his condition, she knew damn well he'd just go poof again with another dose of memories.

"Mark…Listen to me…" She said clearing her throat and squinting. The sun was rising a lot faster than she liked. It was getting to the point where even she was going to have take cover. All she could hope for was that he wouldn't burst into flames as soon as she got him out from underneath the vent cover. "You can't help what you are. You are what I am and if you don't come out of there, you're going to start to burn. If you do that, I'm going to catch right along with you. I do not want to die today!"

"Val? Where…I can't see." He gasped and brought up a shaky hand to wipe at his cheek. The tension in Val's shoulders released immediately. He was lucid…well, more lucid and he was going to come out. All she had to do was keep him talking.

"Follow my voice. I'll get you to the stairwell. Then we'll go down to my place and hole up until we can figure out how to fix this."

"I can't breathe." Mark whispered and shimmied further forward. It was so painful to watch, Val's heart constricted in her chest. Gods, if only he'd let her help him! "I can't…"

"I know…" She sighed more to herself than to him and chanced a hand toward him. Maybe she could grab his shirt and hoist him out. "Mark, listen to me. Can you follow my voice?"

For a long moment he was stock still, his unseeing eyes drifting to her and then away again. Val wanted to scream. Time was ticking by so quickly. The sun was rising too fast. Some days, it seemed as if the daylight would never come but those nights were never the ones like this one…when she had something important to do.

"Mark?" Val asked again and raked a nervous hand through her hair. Immediately she regretted it. The gray dawn stabbed at her eyes and nearly sent her sprawling backward.

"Yeah…" He growled. "I can hear you."

"Follow me."

"I can't see you." Mark said again and edged out from under the vent to sit back on his heels, wiping at his eyes. "I can't fucking see anything…"

"It's the sun. When you get inside, it'll be better." She told him. Mark nodded and reached a hand out toward her. Wiping at her own eyes, Val stared at his outstretched hand. "You want me to…"

"YES!" He roared. The fear in that one small word was tangible and with a deep breath, Val clamped a hand down over his wrist and forearm.

As soon as she made contact, Mark's spine bowed backward and a feral roar broke out of him so loud it made Val flinch. "Son of a…" She muttered and pulled with everything she had. To her surprise, it was an effort. Sure the bastard was big but after feeding, he seemed more…solid. If the sun hadn't been bearing down on them, she doubted she could've moved him an inch.

"You…" He gasped even as he stumbled after her. "You evil bitch…"

"I know. You can scream at me when we get inside."

Just as her hand made contact with the door, she was yanked backward nearly off her feet. Skidding to a stop, Val wheeled to see what the hell the big man was doing. "MARK!" She screamed at his back as he shuffled in the opposite direction. "GET BACK HERE!" He didn't answer. He just continued forward, his huge frame crumpled over itself.

Muttering a curse, Val took off after him.

"Get…away…from me." He snarled shoving at her and nearly hit the deck. "I made…a mistake…"

"Tell me all about it when we're downstairs." Val growled and danced back as he swung at her again.

"I'm…not going…anywhere with you. You're fucking _sick_!"

"STOP IT!" She screamed and reached for his arm. As if on instinct, Mark jumped back, collapsing into the brick ledge surrounding the roof. "Where do you think you're going?"

Without a word, he struggled up onto the ledge and angled his face toward the lightening sky. "I'm done with this." He muttered and shuffled along toward the horizon.

Val glanced nervously between the lunatic on her roof and the line of pink in the distance and weighed her options. He'd touched her again and whatever he saw had ruined any chance she had of getting him inside peacefully. There was only one option left and she only hoped he wasn't stupid strong enough to stop her.

Swallowing a vicious curse, she lunged at him and took him down at the knees. Luckily, the growing brightness had weakened him to the point that he dropped like a rock. "Get inside. We'll work this out tomorrow night." She panted and buried her eyes in the back of his thigh.

With a grunt, Mark broke free and kicked her feebly out of his way as he lurched back to his feet and continued making his way away from her on the ledge. Swearing under her breath, Val staggered back before pitching forward to make another grab for his leg.

For being near blind and half dead, Mark moved like Baryshnikov, deftly avoiding her grasping hands and came to an abrupt stop teetering on the corner of the building.

"Jesus!" The redhead screamed and skidded to a halt at his feet. "Mark, c'mon…get down."

Slowly the big man turned toward her. The look on his face made Val step back. The pain in his now cataract-clouded eyes was tangible but he appeared resolute and strangely at peace. "Just leave it Val…" He growled and it sounded like he'd been gargling concrete.

"No…get down and _then_ I'll leave it be. We've got to get out of the…"

"Thanks for tryin but…I can't." He cut her off and rubbed a tired, shaking hand down his face. "I've gotta go."

Val's stomach dropped as Mark shifted his weight. "Don't…" She tried to scream but her throat closed down so tight it came out a wheeze and took a step toward him. Her hand caught the rough cotton of his jeans just as the sun exploded over the horizon. Val's eyes were on fire, her face felt as if it was flaking off in sheets and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't scream as her body's preternatural instincts kicked in and forced her to collapse into the weak shadow of the ledge.

"No…" She panted and shook her hand as something burned her fingers. The fistful of denim she'd managed to grab flopped ineffectually to the roof beside her smoldering. "Ah Christ no!" Val's heart was thudding in her chest as the hideous dawn continued to grow and proceeded to take bits of her with it. "MARK!" She screamed and taking a chance, forced her legs to lift her out of the shadow.

Immediately her skin began to sizzle and pop like bacon in a skillet. Shrieking, Val scanned the ledge where Mark had been as best she could before the magnitude of the light blinded her completely. "Shit…shit shit shit shit…" She gasped as her body gave out again and forced her back into what little darkness was available. Her body was on fire. Her eyes had scummed over preventing her from formulating any strategy for escape. She was going to die there. She was going to burn up because she couldn't let well enough alone. That big bastard's temper tantrum had cost her everything.

With an angry sigh, Val let her head fall back onto the ground. There was nothing to fight. There was no way for her to hide. She'd gone up there to stop this exact thing from happening and instead of saving one life she'd ended two.

_This is what I get…_ She thought to herself. Her brain was slowing. The evil glowing ball of death was stealing that from her too. _For trying to help…_

Shuddering uncontrollably, Val swallowed trying feebly to wet her arid throat. It was unacceptable. The whole night had been one big clusterfuck after another. Scott would wake up at dusk and find two big greasy stains on the roof. _Christ…_ What a mess.

Sighing, she tried one more time to wet her lips. That small action seemed to sap the last of her will. It hurt. Everything hurt. Burning slowly in the runoff of the early dawn was worse than she ever could've fathomed and she'd forced herself to stay awake through it all…until now. Blinking her unseeing eyes, Val let the last of her breath go and let the darkness come.


	5. Chapter 5

**(A/N:** _Well, here we go again, resurrecting old demons from the depths of my brain. **Hindsight** seems to have started something here. __I've been going through old files and rereading them and here I am. Picking up pieces I haven't dealt with in a very...very long time. I didn't realize how much I'd missed them until I went back and I have YOU all to thank for that. Your reviews and messages questions have stirred the writer in me again when it's been missing for such a long time I wasn't sure I'd get it back. So... Val's back in my head along w/ Adrian and Mark and the rest of the party that goes on in my brain and while I meant to get back onto the next chapter of **Hindsight**, Val wasn't having it. SO without further ado, here's another chapter to another story that hasn't seen the light of day in half a decade. if any of you are still paying attention to it, I'd love some feedback so R&R or Private message or whatever if ya like it, or if ya hate it, or if you've got an idea you'd like to see... Whatever. heh THANK YOU again to everyone who has messaged me. I know I've been a ghost for a loooong time. Later! Egypt~_

* * *

Something smelled like burning.

Shifting her weight, Val's body didn't react the way it should have but the reasoning didn't hit her. Somewhere, she was still lost in the dream she'd been having. "Papa…the bacon will burn…" She muttered then snapped awake, her eyelids sliding slowly across her too dry eyes.

"Papa?" Scott's familiar voice sounded bemused. "When was the last time you had one of those?" Groaning, Val lifted her arm with a wince and tried to force her middle finger up in the general direction of his line of sight. The pain however, was so intense that she arched her back with a gasp and let the arm drop.

"What the hell?" Jesus, she sounded like her vocal cords had been taken out and rearranged.

"Stop moving. You have no idea how hard it's been to put you back together." Scott told her from much further away.

Normally, Val would have argued but she knew she was in rough shape. Her body felt tight and itchy as if she'd been wrapped in sandpaper and something told her that to move too far would invariably, and possibly irreparably, tear something vital. Instead, she let her eyes slide closed again and prepared herself to speak.

"How am I not dead?"

"By my good graces." He was closer. "Open your mouth." She tried to comply but Scott was already putting gentle pressure on her lower jaw as he trapped his wrist between her teeth.

All the gods bless him! Val could feel cells regenerating and nerve endings beginning to fire again as he let his own blood drip like warm caramel down her throat.

At first she could only lie there and attempt to swallow before she choked on it. Part of her hated it. No one ever saw her this incapacitated. Then again, she wasn't positive she'd ever been this incapacitated. By all rights and purposes she should have been dead but no. Somehow, Scott had braved the bright morning light and dragged her to safety…or something.

With every pull on Scott's vein, Val could feel her diminished strength being restored. It was slow, but definitely happening. The redhead's mind could only process the taste of him and the way her body soaked it up. Jesus Christ, she must've been bad. Never had the simple act of feeding felt so good. It was the best drink she'd ever had, the best bender on the best night where everything was floaty and light.

"Val…let go…" Scott's voice was thready above her but it was so hard to let go. Just a little more and… Before she could finish the thought, he shook her loose and fell backward onto the floor.

Coughing, Val struggled to a sitting position and wiped her lips on the back of her arm. "Sorry…" Even her voice sounded more normal. Scott shook his head as if to clear it and waved her off.

"I've been doin that for four nights. I'm used to being lightheaded."

"Four days!" Val barked in disbelief and immediately regretted it. Her head felt fit to explode under the sound of her own voice. "There's no way…"

Scott nodded and gingerly eased himself up into a chair. As he moved Val saw the ragged bites on the inside of his arm and frowned.

"Why didn't those heal?" She asked gesturing feebly. Again Scott shrugged and moved a hunk of his long dreaded hair out of his face.

"I've been giving you all my reserves."

"Unacceptable." She growled and held out her arm. "I'm older, take some and heal yourself. Do you know what happens to untended wounds on our kind?"

"No way." He retorted. "I just got you this far. You don't have anything to spare. From the look of you, you could use another week of sleep. Maybe a month."

Again Val frowned. "I feel…better."

"I'd bring you a mirror but I don't think you'd like what you see."

"Bring it." She said, a foreboding in her tone Scott had never heard. Without even a hint of argument, he got up and retrieved her hand mirror from the bathroom.

"Don't say I didn't warn you."

With what she hoped was a wry look she took it. Ho-ly shit… "I should be dead." She gasped, her fingers coming up to touch her blackened skin. The whites of her eyes were like two stars glowing in the vast darkness of the night sky and her flesh was stretched across the sharp angular bones of her face like the skin of a drum. Looking at herself, she was afraid to change her expression for fear it would crack.

"Well, you were on fire when I found you."

"And just how did you get up there?" Her suspicious nature flared to life as she narrowed her eyes at him.

"I threw a blanket around me and braved the evil sun." He told her with all the bravado of a conquering hero. At Val's pained expression he laughed. "I did. Seriously. When you didn't come back, I knew something was wrong."

"You should've been out cold."

"Well, I wasn't. Besides, shouldn't you be thanking me?"

Damn it. He was right. She owed him a debt. Hell, she owed him her life…literally.

With a deep sigh that rattled in her chest, she licked her lips. "Thank you."

The look of utter shock on Scott's face was worth biting out the words.

"I'll just go write this down." He said with a grin and collapsed back down into the chair. "I don't think I've ever heard you say those two words in the same breath."

"Don't get used to it." She snorted and eased herself back down onto her couch. She was so tired. The morning on the roof was close…too close. It had taken everything she had out of her and for what? Groaning inwardly, her thoughts went back to the last vision she had of Mark teetering precariously on the edge of the roof as the sun burst over the horizon like an atom bomb. Her stomach queased out as the memory ran rampant through her brain. "All this and for nothing…"

"I wouldn't say nothing."

"Mark's dead. I became a crispy critter and Mark's still dead." Suddenly irritated, Val slammed her fists down into the cushion by her hip. "Why do I even care?"

"Face it, you're a lot nicer than you pretend to be."

"Fuck you Scott." She barked and winced again sighing. "You don't know what I am."

Letting loose a deep breath, Scott stood and opened his mouth to light into her when a thump and a crash sounded from the back of the house. Val was on her feet faster than Scott could blink.

"What the fuck is that?!" She screamed before the little strength she had left her and sent her, knees buckling, to the floor.

"Don't freak out…" Scott began as he helped her back onto the couch.

"Freak out about what? Did you bring someone here? Tell me you did not bring someone to my house!" Val was attempting to sound as authoritative as possible but when the object of her rage was cradling her like a helpless baby, it was difficult to get the point across.

"I didn't bring anyone. But…someone is here. I didn't want to tell you yet, you're still very weak but…"

"Val?" A voice from the back broke out. Val's breathing stopped. She knew that low, rasping, baritone.

Slowly, Val mustered her strength and sat up just as the owner of the voice half stumbled into the room.

"Mark?" She breathed, and fought the urge to reach out and touch him. He couldn't be real. She saw him die on the ledge. She'd seen the fire consume him. "You're dead." The big man shook his head slowly. "You should be dead. I saw you…"

"That's how I found you." Scott admitted beside her. "Mark was just…here. I was crashed on the couch and suddenly he was standing in front of me."

Staring gape mouthed, Val's eyes shifted between the two men. What the FUCK was going on? There was no way he could have pulled his disappearing act. He was on fire! He was weak and sun-blind and it just…wasn't…possible… "How…" She managed and her voice shook.

"I don't know." Mark muttered and edged his way toward her. Val could only stare. He was…perfect. It was as if the incident on the roof had never happened. He was still as strong and unmarred as he'd been after she'd made him feed. The only difference that her weakened eyes could detect was his hair. It was still long and full but the black dye that had covered most of the red was gone. It was all natural.

Anger welled up in Val so fast it was like a gunshot. Mark was alive. He was upright and breathing and she was teetering precariously on the edge of actual death. All of a sudden, everything was crystal clear.

"You unbelievable son-of-a-bitch!" She snarled and threw Scott off of her to the floor.

"Val, what the…" Mark's face was a mask of pure confusion in the face of her rage.

"You were trying to kill me!" Growling, she shot to her feet again.

"What? No!" The big man gasped. "I…saved you…"

Val's hand shot out to point at Scott. "HE saved me! You pulled that poofing…" The world started to dim around the edges as her thighs shook with the effort of supporting her weight. "…thing…you do…and…" One shuddering step later, she was falling again. With a wince, she braced herself for the impact that never came. Strong hands grabbed her upper arms and held her. "I…dunno how…" She went on even as she hung bonelessly in, she glanced up, Mark's grasp. "You're touching me…"

"Gloves…" He whispered.

"You bastard."

"Val, c'mon…" Scott said above her. Rolling her eyes up to him she grinned a bit.

"You didn't save me at all did you?" Her voice was barely more than breath. The chagrinned shake of his head told Val all she needed to know. Blinking, she looked back up to Mark. The look on his face actually touched her. He looked…worried. His green eyes were buried deep in the shadow of his bunched eyebrows as he stared down at her, holding her at arm's length resting against his knee. "You did. You tried to kill me and then…I'm confused."

"Worry about it later." Scott said. "We need to get her in bed."

No sooner than the words were spoken, she felt herself being lifted. By the time they had the soft cotton sheets pulled over her, she was beyond speech. She wanted to thank them and stab them all at the same time but it was no use. She'd used up everything Scott had given her. Her heart was laboring in her chest and she was dimly afraid. What if this was it? What if she'd managed not to die only to over do it and destroy herself?

"Val?" Scott's voice was anxious above her. "Val, open your eyes!"

Nope. Couldn't do it… She was so tired.

"What does she need?" Was that Mark? It sounded so far away. Then again, that only made sense considering he was dead. Maybe she was getting closer to him.

"She needs to feed. If we don't get something in her, her body'll start to eat itself and then we'll never get her back. She's too far gone." There was a muttered curse. "Why the hell did you have to come out when you did? I told you to stay the hell away from her!"

"Valdis…" Mark's deep baritone again. "I can't do this without you. I have no fuckin idea what's goin on." Well that was good, neither did she. Maybe if she just died he could find someone who could help him. Scott'd help if he could. Yeah…that was a plan.

"C'mon Val!" Something made contact with her cheek but it didn't hurt. It seemed it should've. "Jesus, she's wasting away. She's not gonna wake up if we don't get her something to kill!"

The voices sounded as if they were underwater. Val could've sworn she told them to shut up but she didn't remember moving her lips. Maybe she hadn't. Who knew? Besides, what did it matter? She was floating away from her charred skin and the pain sizzling through the misfiring neurons. It was cool and dark and she wanted nothing more than to stretch and let herself float.

"What do we do?"

"You've gotta feed her."

"What?" That was definitely Mark's voice and apparently Scott said something he didn't like. Val smirked inwardly. That big bastard didn't like to do anything.

"If you don't, she's gone. Get me? I've got nothing left to give her."

The long pause that followed was a welcome reprieve. With any luck at all, she could drift off before they made up their minds.

"What do I do?"

"Thank the fucking Gods!"

No. Val wanted to protest. She wanted to sleep. She was so tired and whatever part of her was still listening to them was irritating her. Try as she might, she couldn't seem to tune them out and before she could make a concentrated effort to try, her mouth was being pried open again. Damn it. She shook her head but nothing happened.

Then it hit her tongue. Oh God it was wonderful. Her aching cells soaked it up and demanded more. It was concentrated fire racing down her throat and flashing in waves through her body.

"Son-of-a…" A voice gasped and the source of the ambrosia started to retreat. NO! Val's arms shot up to hold it to her. She wanted it…_needed_ all of it and now that she'd figured out what heaven tasted like she was absolutely not letting go. "Scott…I can't…she…"

"Would you look at that." Scott was awestruck. "She's…holy shit."

"Get'er off me!" The big man roared and sounded much closer this time. Val dug her fingers into the source and clamped her lips down around it. So good, so much life. It was salvation! It was what she'd been searching for! With this, she could go weeks without feeding, maybe months, and… Then it was gone.

Val let out a sound like a dying animal. Immediately her body felt like lead. She couldn't move. Her eyes fluttered open but she couldn't focus them. She was vibrating. Her body was coming back to life. What the hell had they given her?

"She's up." Scott. That was Scott's voice.

"Keep'er away from me."

"What just happened?" Christ, she sounded like she was talking through a throatful of broken glass again. No one spoke. More than a little annoyed, Val flexed her fingers and pronounced them functional before moving onto the rest of her body in stages. When she wiggled her toes, she grunted and forced herself up to a sitting position. "Talk to me…" She began but the scene in front of her stopped her dead.

Mark was cradling his forearm to his stomach and his gray t-shirt was soaked with blood beneath it while Scott tried to pry it free to take a look. Mark wouldn't allow it. He was staring hard at Val.

"Every time I touch you, I find out somethin else I can't live with." The words were a despairing growl.

"That was you?" She gasped. Val was struck dumb. Never had such strong blood crossed her lips. Mark was maybe weeks out of his change. He should've tasted like water and done about as much to keep her moving but… Val didn't have the words.

"Yeah." He said flatly and finally allowed Scott to look at him. His wrist looked like lumpy Jello.

"Did I do that to you?" Val muttered. Mark only nodded. "I didn't mean to…" She started again but everything tilted forty-five degrees and dimmed down. The torpor was coming again and with what was running through her veins, she knew it wouldn't take long. Her vision flickering, she let herself fall back down into her familiar mattress and slept.

"Val?" The voice was like a boot to the skull and jerked her out of her rest so harshly she damn near fell off the bed.

"What?" She croaked and brought her hand up to rub her eyes. A crack like dead leaves stopped her. Pulling her hand away she squinted at what had come off in her hand. It looked suspiciously like her eyelid. "Gross." She sighed. "Now I'm falling apart."

"Not uh…so much." There was something in Scott's voice that set off her alarms again.

"What does that mean?" She asked and blinked surprised to find she could in fact blink with her eyelid in her hand.

Val flinched as Scott stood up and reached out toward her. "What are you doing?" She gasped but couldn't muster the energy to move away as he touched her cheek. The skin there crackled again but as she watched her friend's face, she lost all inclination to move away. He was…awed. "Scott, what is it?"

He only shook his head as he rubbed his fingers together sending whatever was on them floating to the floor . "This is un-fucking-believable."

"Tell me what's going on before I waste the last of my strength strangling it out of you."

Without a word, Scott jumped up and disappeared from her line of sight and when he returned, he had the mirror again. "Look." He said. "See."

With a healthy dose of help, Val made it to a sitting position cringing inwardly with every flex and pull of muscle. Every time she moved that sound like cracking ice rippled through her and sent more flakes drifting down to the bed but she refused to pay any attention to it as she snatched the mirror from Scott's hand and took a long hard look into it.

At first, the sight made her stomach lurch uneasily. She looked like an over-roasted marshmallow, her skin charred and cracking to reveal lines of white underneath.

"What'd you do to me..." Val whispered, her hands reaching, touching her cheeks only to pull away with more flaked and broken skin.

Scott didn't answer, couldn't she suspected as he disappeared, returning with what looked like a washrag. "Just, let me..." He muttered and moved her hand away to ease the wet cloth down her face.

Val could only gasp as she grabbed for the mirror, her fingers crackling as they flexed to close on the handle. With every swipe of cotton, the blackness fell, swirling through the air like a long dead campfire in a strong breeze and below it... below it was pure, alabaster and whole. Mark's blood had healed her, had brought her back from the brink certain death with only a few mouths full.

"I don't understand." She managed and reached, taking the rag from Scott as she began to scrub in earnest. The black, charred skin continued to drop away leaving her whole and pure and more perfect than she'd ever been.

Her eyes flickered up, wild and shocky as she tossed the mirror aside and started to scrub at her arms. Flakes fell free, some twisting up into the air while most clung to the washcloth and to the ruined bedsheets below her. There was nothing below it. The flesh of her arms was smooth and silky and it disturbed her. She should be rejoicing at this second chance but something about the look of her skin sent a wire of terror coiling through her guts as she blinked, and blinked again, trying to make out what was it about this miracle (and that's what it was, an absolute miracle) that scared her more than anything she'd ever experienced in her life.

Valdis had fought wars when she was human. She'd watched brothers and cousins and countless others fall to axes and arrows and swords and _this_ was worse than that. But why? Why when she'd nursed herself through the same wounds and come out alive did this perfection make her want to tear it off to find what was really underneath?

Like a fist to the jaw it hit her.

"My scars..." She breathed, her scrubbing hand stopping as it trembled clutching the filthy rag. "My scars are gone."

Without a word, Scott was beside her, holding her arm up to the light as his fingers skimmed the surface. "They're gone." His voice held a deep reverence she'd never known in him. "But those were..."

"Burned in with salt." She finished. Her voice empty of anything as her eyes slide fluidly back and forth between Scott's awed face and Mark's darkened, horrified expression from across the room.

"Nothing should have..." Scott was musing. Val wanted to throw up. Her scars, her reminders of what she'd done and been through, all gone. All the tiny crisscrossing imperfections that proved she'd survived were just...gone...

Her head roaring, Val pushed her friend aside and made for her bathroom, slamming the door as she flicked the light switch and stared into her own eyes in the larger mirror. It was disgusting, alluring, terrifying, and totally unbelievable. Her cheeks were luminous white though smudged with soot and not at all sunken and dried. She wasn't a husk like she should've been. She could feel her heart pumping regular and strong in her chest when there shouldn't have been anything in her for it to pump but there it was. There everything was.

She shook her head, eyes fixed on the brown eyes of her reflection but the longer she stared, the more she saw. They weren't just brown anymore were they? I sliver of ice slid down her spine as she reached out and laid her hand flat on the glass, more flakes floating away as her palm made contact, and leaned in, staring hard into what had always been flat, brown eyes. But there was green in there now. The edges of her iris, surrounding the pupil were dark, dark green and it only got brighter as it radiated out eventually melting into the darkness she'd known for so long as hers.

"What the fuck..." She choked and looked away unable to make her brain understand what had happened. And what HAD happened? "Mark..." She growled, her mind going back to the panic she'd seen in his own green eyes but this green wasn't his was it? No, it was darker, less real, more cartoon than anything that could be found in nature and it made her want to vomit.

Swallowing hard, she stepped away, her back bouncing off the glass shower door behind her with a muffled thump. She closed her eyes, turning with effort from her reflection to open the door behind her and get the water flowing, and stepped in before it had a chance to get warm. Gasping, she tensed as the icy flow hit her back through what was left of her clothes, but it didn't matter. She needed a shower. She needed to be clean and free of this dead debris and maybe, if she was lucky, she'd find something that was her in there after all.


End file.
